Gurgaon's Bristol Chowk becomes the costliest liquor zone with license allotment at nearly Rs 100 crore
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Gurugram's Bristol Chowk situated on the posh Golf Course Road went for almost Rs 100 crore in the liquor licensing auction held on Saturday. At Rs 98.6 crores it is almost double from last year's Rs 49.3 crores, a 4.2% increase from its reserve price of Rs 94.6 crores. This was Haryana's most expensive excise auction till now.Bristol Chowk is a part of Gurugram's West excise zone.'This year's license auction under the new excise policy was for 22 months(June 2025- March 2027) compared to 12 months in the last 2024-25 auction,' as told by officials to TOI.The winning bid was placed by a G-Town Wines , it was the lone bidder for this Zone. The terms of the license dictate that it can only open two vends in this region.The second place in the 'highest bids table' went to DLF-3 at Rs 63 crores against a reserve price of Rs. 60 crores. The third highest bid came from Shankar Chowk where the winning bid was the same as its reserve price of Rs. 62 crores.The lowest amount that anyone can bid for obtaining the liquor license is its reserve price." 50 out of 79 zones in Gurgaon East were auctioned over the weekend. Govt made revenue of Rs 1,270 crore, almost 6% higher than the combined reserve price of Rs 1,198 crore set for these zones," said Amit Bhatia, deputy excise and taxation commissioner to TOI. Horizon Plaza went for ₹46.2 crore, slightly above its reserve price, making it the second-highest bid in Gurgaon East. Bids for Signature Tower, World Mark, and Jalsa remained close to their base prices.Zones with the highest gains over reserve prices included Nawada (+30%), South City (+25%), American Express on SPR (+24.3%), Badshapur (+20.9%), Sikohpur and Kankrola (both +20.5%), Sohna Road (+16.9%), and Banni Square (+12%).The remaining 21 zones in Gurgaon West will be auctioned on June 3, followed by 29 zones in Gurgaon East on June 5.Bhatia added that the third round of the excise auction saw a stronger response than the previous one, reflecting broader participation in the zone auctions and a favourable reception to the state's excise policy.Gurgaon makes up for approximately two-fifths of Haryana's excise revenue.The government has set a revenue target of ₹14,064 crore for the current year. In the previous fiscal year (2024–25), collections reached ₹11,491 crore, achieving about 90% of the ₹12,650 crore target.The state cabinet approved the new liquor policy for 2025–2027 on May 5, introducing earlier closing hours for urban vendors, a ban on live performances in ahatas, and prohibiting alcohol sales in villages with populations under 500.(With inputs from TOI)
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